Noctambulists and Other Fictions

by Peter Spielberg

The Noctambulists & Other Fictions is a collection of spare, deadpan tales in which life's absurdity acts as a gateway to an even more confounding reality. Here, social mores are recycled, like so much scrap metal, in the name of extremist conservation, gender roles are mere foggy memories, and one man's life's work is another's garage sale. Withholding is the story of a modern divorce - a sensible end to a sensible alliance. Cliff and Connie are...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573660973
• ISBN13: 9781573660976
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: F2c
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Happening Noctambulist

The dark humor showcasing wild scenarios that seem ever so plausible while at the same time critiquing our present societies acceptance of norms is exactly what Spielberg achieves. This is a good book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The realities Spielberg paints for the reader are fantastic yet believable, which allows for one to be wholly enveloped in the worlds created. In Apocrypha a runner is the only person who seems to purposely be oblivious to the eating craze that has overtaken everyone. All objects here can be eaten and the runner is the only person who chooses to run his own path at his own pace. The thing is he's not even trying to be subversive he's just being himself. The story of A Happening is cast in a world where a socialist presence is felt. There is food tickets, temperature control, marriage contracts of zero children allowed and where the extremists want to blow up toll booths which are considered a nuisance (on this point I could not agree more). A newly married woman living in a cottage picks up a hitchhiker and shortly thereafter a plant shortage forces many people to relocate into compounds. She, however does not to want to conform to politicians and their doctrines. So she, her husband and the hitchhiker, who has been living at the cottage, end up out smarting the system and remain where they are. She wants liberation and not having sex with her husband is one form of it. The last scene is great in this story because in her quest for freedom she stands nude next to the two men who are naked and looks in the mirror. She can not tell who is who because all three look alike in the mirror. Her quest to become independent of the system in effect causes her community of three to be the perfect example of what the socialist mindset strives to achieve- no individuality. These short stories take everyday occurrences and twist them. The social dialogue is ripe leaving the reader smiling for its simplicity in truth. Spielberg stories deal with obesity, divorce, the nagging parents, artists and their ego's, mundane routines that people inexplicably repeat, the void of being parentless and abandoned. These characters are human and one can easily identify these traits in oneself or in someone else in society. This is why they hold a fascination and cause me to look more finely at the role I allow myself to play in it. In the end this is simply a good book you should read.

Not a Sleeper

Peter Spielberg presents seven stories all absurd and unrealistic, yet completely relevant as responses to contemporary modernity. Being one who is not a great fan of stories containing alternate realities and situations that are unlikely at best, I was surprised to find myself affected by this collection of stories. The high points of the collection are undoubtedly "Apocrypha", an interesting commentary on modern society's obsession with consumerism, "Withholding," a funny, and absurd look at the relationship between love, marriage and money, and "The Noctambulists," a disturbing, yet interesting reaction to the possibility of the abolition of nursing homes and the importance of inter-generational relationships in sustaining individuality. The one clear low-point comes in the form of "Cry Wolf," an incomprehensible and completely unentertaining story whose themes are lost to me. Spielberg allows the reader with his clear and direct writing style, and beautifully human characters, to buy into the conventions of his created worlds. When the reader allows him or herself to buy into those strange conventions, Spielberg's true accomplishment (of expanding the mind of the reader to be able to connect the themes presented in his stories to the problems of modern life) becomes visible and undeniable. Overall, Spielberg has presented a good, entertaining and interestingly informative collection of stories.

Noctambulisticious

Spielberg did a wonderful job of creating these fictions of altered reality and making them real to the reader. Each story addresses an issue of our reality and takes it to an extreme through fiction. I, personally, enjoyed the reoccurring theme of sleeping/dreams and how the characters (in each story) came to an epiphany or a personal conclusion after experiencing the effects of the altered state of reality. These stories, some more than others, really made me question the ways or traditions of our society. My favorite, though, was "Apocrypha". This story took an very probable change in society, but in this time is merely altered reality, and made it completely real to me. Not only that, but through making this fantasy reality, it made me question the traditions or norms we have set in stone. I also especially enjoyed the last story as well, "The Noctambulists". This story set up the altered state of reality in the same way that "Apocrypha" did but in order to address another societal norm. Just a minor alteration in realty, like having the government close all retirement homes forcing the elderly people into the homes of the young (or the streets) enabled Spielberg to creatively address the issue of not only growing old, but how the young react to the elderly growing older. And also in altering realty it let Spielberg create a truly original reaction to a universal problem.